The Dostyk Residence Almaty

... for the transferring process, searched for the professors whose signatures I needed to confirm that the American courses adequately covered the material to be discussed in the KIMEP courses. All passed with flying colors! I returned the papers to the Registrar’s Office and expected to be able to register for courses the next day, as the registrar had indicated I should be able to do. No such luck. When I went to my personal course registration ...

... style buildings, the occasional new tower, and lots of trees obscuring any landmarks). So far, it seems as though they are not wrong. It is essentially someone's apartment, that someone being So Young, a Korean who is working here in Kazakhstan. Incredibly hospitable, and helpful, who just wants you to feel at home.

That is all from me for now, as otherwise any readership I have could well get bored by my ramblings and fall asleep.

... will be. He acknowledges that it will be very difficult to educate the entire population to be proficient in English.

The way the two current official languages, Kazakh and Russian, are used here is very similar to my impressions of how language is used in immigrant families in the US. The immigrants – those from the old country (or in the case of Kazakhs, the old world) – speak the old language. While they may be fluent in ...

... and Mongolian cultures, and many others besides); being half-Chinese, half-Western European has given me the correct ethnic look; and looking so young by American standards no longer elicits surprise when people find out my actual age. The first question new acquaintances ask when they meet me is, “did you come here to work?” They actually think that I am old enough to work! Amazing!

So far, I’ve made a good friend of my ...

... hotel with a jackhammer going until midnight. Not one of our better nights. We bypassed Samarquand and went straight to Tashkent. We totally underestimated the size of this country. From the north border to Tashkent was the guts of 1400km! Tashkent itself was nuts, think drunk irish driver in dublin, no lines on roads and rules being a general guideline. People beep for everything, when they pass, when they like your car, when they turn, at women..... We made it to Adijan, close the ...

Today's been a bit of a faff, we woke up a little later than intended and I headed into town get some passport photos. An hour and a bit later I returned and we set off to find internet, change money, find a map and send a parcel. My god it took a while and cost an arm and a leg (£40 for postage!) but we got there in the end and ...

... In mein** Gehaltsrechnung, die aufgrund mein** Eigenschaft als Expat und des kasachischen Steu**systems relativ komplizi**t ist, gibt es eine Zeile, die mit "Urlaub" üb**schrieben sein sollte (weil das Gehalt während des Urlaubs hi** and**s b**echnet wird). Anstatt mit "Vacation" (Urlaub) üb**schrieb meine Kollegin die Zeile mit "Vocation" (Talenti**theit / Begabung). Schön, also war ich schon drei Wochen dieses Jahr begabt, den Rest d** Zeit hab ich ...

... br>Fourth; Some Statistics.

Punctures Nil
Breakdowns Nil
MPG 28ish
Dings Nil
Speeding Tickets One ($20)
Bribes Nil
Checkpoints 6ish Laos and China
Tolls China, every National Road and Expressway and usually worth it.
Laos tiny toll charge on the main highway and Malaysia, well worth the charge for spotless service areas and ...

... dabei, vielmehr geht es darum an den jeweiligen Stellen die richtigen Fotos zu machen; hier muss man beim Blumen ablegen fotografiert werden, da wird eine perspektivische Aufnahme auf einer Treppe gemacht, usw. Selbstverständlich immer erst wenn das vorherige Brautpaar fertig mit der gleichen Aufnahme ist. Dann weiter zum Reiterdenkmal von Held Soundso. Dazu muss gesagt werden, dass es in Kasachstan üblich ist historische Herrscher als "Helden ...

... Schnee wirklich war weiß ich nicht, wenn man vorsichtig lief sank man "nur" bis zur Mitte des Oberschenkels ein, es kam aber auch vor, dass man brusttief einsank und dann, um das Gewicht besser auf dem Schnee zu verteilen, in Bundeswehrmanier über den Schnee gleiten musste. Die traurige Wahrheit, am Ende stand ich vor einer Schneeverwehung, die höher war als ich. Der alternative Weg wäre eine steile Kletterpartie über vereistes, loses Gestein gewesen ...